My Cat Doesn't Like the "Other" Kitty in the Mirror

United States
May 22, 2009 2:22am CST
Well, I have had this cat, named MissChief, for seven years now. Picture it: NIGHT #1 - about a month ago, it's pitch black, and I am asleep; it's around one o'clock in the morning. Keep in mind, I have a king sized bed with a mirrored headboard with shelving, so there's a spot between my mattress and the mirrored headboard where she can rest, between the shelves. All of the sudden, I am jolted from my "coma" as I hear a high-pitched screech, and then hissing, and what seems to sound like my cat struggling inside the mirrored part of my headboard. Because I'm dazed and confused, I almost fall out of bed and trip over myself to get to the light switch to turn the lights on and see what the heck is going on, and my cat bounds across me, screeching, all of which is comical in and of itself. I am finally able to get the lights on to find MissChief is hissing, her ears back, and her eyes as big as saucers, her back arched, etc. She had pooed and peed everywhere in the process because she was scared half to death - of what, I had no idea at this point - and stills screeching and hissing to the point it's as if she's demonic. I'm telling you, I was scared FOR her! She would NOT let me go near her, and kept this behavior up. I had put her out of my room for the rest of the night so I could get some sleep. Finally, when I had awakened for the day, she decides she is my friend again. I decide she isn't going to sleep in my room with me that night, to avoid another mishap like the previous night. A this point, I still have no idea why she had such a fit. NIGHT #2 - I put the cat out of my room again because it it time for bed. Keep in mind that I moved into this apartment about a year ago, in which both the bathrooms have mirrors that extend from the counter top to the ceiling (the counters in each bathroom stretch along the entire length of the wall). The guest bathroom is in the hallway; the other bathroom is in my bedroom. Anyway, I hear her hissing and getting upset again, so I fling open my bedroom door to check on the commotion. Here she comes, bounding through the hallway at lightning speed, from the bathroom, hissing and screeching again. By this time, I still can't figure it out, and I shrug it off and go back to bed. The next morning I wake up and she's ok again. I'm starting to worry if she is getting senile, and I start wondering, "Oh my! What if I have to put her down?" Well, later on that night, I hear her in the kitchen, hissing. I'm thinking, "AGAIN?" So I went into the kitchen to see what the fuss was. She was hissing at her reflection in the stove!!! FINALLY!! I had figured it out! She thinks her reflection is another kitty. How happy I was that I was not going to have to put her down. Something interesting: She goes on "poop patrol," as I call it, where she follows me to the bathroom whenever I have to go, to keep me company. Anyway, she has always hopped onto the mirrored counter and pranced around like nobody's business, even looking in the mirror - either at me, or what seems like at herself. She has never acted like an ape before, though. I wonder why she notices her reflection NOW, and never had before? now, it's as if she's trying to purposely torture herself. She'll go into the kitchen and purposely walk over to the stove, look at herself and start hissing!! Has anyone ever had their cat act like this? If so, what did you do to resolve it?
1 response
• United States
22 May 09
*laughs* Awww, that's kind of cute. I'd say the easist way to resolve it would be to cover the reflective surfaces that are on the ground level where she'd normally see them. It may just be a passing phase, though, like kids go through, where she has to figure out that the "other cat" actually isnt another cat.